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The Nation: REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE/Bu
- Subject: The Nation: REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE/Bu
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 17:34:00
Editorial & Opinion
REGIONAL
PERSPECTIVE/Burma
remains a thorn in
Asean-US Dialogue
Once gain, Asean's relations with the US
are under stress as their bilateral forum, the
Asean-US Dialogue, has been delayed.
The US has been reluctant to host the
two-year event due to the admission of
Burma as a member of Asean last year.
The dialogue forum, which was initiated in
1977, provides a venue for both sides to
discuss the whole gamut of issues related
to Asean-US ties. The 12 previous
meetings, which were hosted alternatively
between by the US and Asean countries,
were convened during a time of few
problems.
However, Burma's membership in Asean
last July changed all that.
Following the postponement of the
Asean-European Union joint committee
meeting last November over a similar
dispute concerning Burma's status,
Washington said in private that it would like
to host the dialogue outside the US.
Washington has informed Malaysia, the
Asean coordinator of the dialogue, that
because of the current visa ban imposed
on Burmese officials representing the the
State Peace and Development Council, as
the Rangoon government is known, the
meeting could not proceed as planned.
The move has left Asean at a loss over
what to do as the member countries do not
know the details or scope of the US visa
ban. At an informal meeting among Asean
senior officials in New Delhi recently,
Burmese officials pointed out that the US
visa restrictions apply only to a select group
of officials above the senior official level
and military personnel above the level of
brigidier general.
That would mean that Washington could go
ahead with the meeting with senior officials
from Burma attending the forum.
Howerver, Malaysia has sought further
clarification from Washington on this point
before Asean decides if the Asean-US
Dialogue is to be held outside the US or in
Washington, where it was scheduled to be
held.
Asean is working on three options.
The first is to stick to the original location,
the US, with the participation of Burmese
officials from its mission in Washington.
This way, it will save Washington from the
further embrassment of issuing new visas.
Two other options would require
cooperation from the Philippines. Manila
would host the forum either with the
attendance of Burmese diplomats
stationed in Manila or with officials directly
flying in from Rangoon. The first approach
ensures that the US officials will participate
in the dialogue while the second approach
is to make sure that the Burmese
representation from Rangoon will be
present at the meeting.
Of late, the Philippines has promoted its
ties with Burma, whose leaders, including
Chairman of State Peace and
Development Council Than Shwe, are
currently visiting the Philippines.
Although it is Washington's desire to have
the meeting hosted in the Philippinese,
right after the senior officials meeting of the
Asean Regional Forum (ARF) due in Cebu
in May, Asean is not happy with the
compromise.
For one thing, Asean is worried it could
serve as a precedent for other dialogue
partners. ''What would we do, if other
dialogue partners follow suit,'' complained
an Asean official. Apart from the post
ministerial meeting, Asean holds a
separate bilateral meeting with its dialogue
partners comprising Australia, Canada,
New Zealand, EU, Japan, South Korea,
China, Russia and India.
Asean also feels that if the meeting is held
inside the US, Washington will pay more
attention and its senior officials will make
every effort to take part in the meeting. In
the past, whenever the meeting was held
outside Washington, the US has often been
represented by lower level delegates.
There are also grumblings in the Asean
capitals that the US should not be so fussy
about Burma's participation in the
Asean-US Dialogue. Afterall, US State
Secretary Madeleine Albright has already
sat in the same room with the Burmese
representatives at the ARF in Kuala
Lumpur.
Without a quick resolution to the Asean-US
Dialogue problem, the pending Asean-EU
joint committee meeting due to be held in
several months could be jeopardised. Both
Asean and EU would like to resume
high-level contacts as soon as possible, but
there has not been any progress on the
Burma sticking point.
Asean has been urging the EU to convene
meetings at the working group and
technical group levels to break the
impasse, otherwise the overall Asean-EU
relationshiop will not be able to move
forward. Since the postponement, the two
sides have been searching for a way out of
their predicament.
Both sides has said they would like to see
the meeting being held before the second
Asia-Europe Meeting on April 2-4 in
London, which looks increasingly
impossible.
Strange as it may seem, though, Asean-US
relations are not as important as they
should be. In fact, Asean's bilateral ties with
other dialogue partners, such as Australia,
are more significant.
At the moment, there is only one
cooperation programme under the
Asean-US Dialogue, called the
Environment Initiative, which was put in
place in 1992 and will end in June.
Washington has yet come up with a new
idea to rejuvenate this bilateral procedure.
In light of what has occurred in the financial
world of Asean in the past months, Asean
is hoping to raise this issue and discuss it
at length in the dialogue forum. Asean
would like the US to spell out its
cooperative efforts.
In the past, the two sides have discussed
the situation in Burma and Cambodia
including narcotic suppression cooperation.
BY KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN
The Nation